ANDERSEN CONSULTING HIKES AD BUDGET BY 25% SPENDING SET AT $30 MIL FOR 1997, WITH MORE ATTENTION TO INT'L WORK

Andersen Consulting is boosting its global ad budget 25% to $30 million this year, hoping to stand out in the increasingly crowded category of business services.

A new 30-second TV spot broke Jan. 4 on ESPN and ABC during coverage of an Andersen-sponsored golf tournament in Scottsdale, Ariz. Print ads begin Jan. 8 with a page in The Wall Street Journal.

The campaign will expand into 23 other countries through April.

50%-PLUS OUTSIDE U.S.

For the first time, Andersen will spend more than 50% of its budget outside the U.S., reflecting that non-U.S. business now brings in about half of revenues.

More than half the U.S. budget will go to print and airport posters, with cable and network TV getting about 45%.

Young & Rubicam, New York, created a 30-second spot called "Museum" that shows characters from paintings by Manet, Degas and Vermeer springing to life and responding to classical music. The intended metaphor: The museum is a company, the characters are employees.

"Are your talents working in concert?" the print ad asks.

The TV spot is laden with special effects. High production values "are another piece of communication to our clients of how we do excellent work," said Jim Murphy, managing director of worldwide marketing and communications.

TV and print ads are short on copy-partly so the metaphor can cross borders, but mostly because Andersen concluded its target, senior executives, are so bombarded with information that a simple message would have the most impact.

AVOIDING HEAVY STATISTICS

For similar reasons, the campaign steers clear of heavy statistics and case studies featured in much business/tech advertising.

"We feel [case studies] have been overdone in this category, and our research suggests that buyers' eyes just sort of glaze over," Mr. Murphy said.

Andersen Consulting was a pioneer in professional services advertising, accounting for half the category's $9 million ad spending when it started its branding campaign in 1989. But in '97, Andersen said, it probably will account for just 3.5% of an $850 million category.